Afraid of the Dark
by rebanellsays
Summary: A traumatic experience draws two people closer together, but will the memories and fear bring them both down lower than they thought possible?


Reba Hart trudged up the front steps to her home. It'd been a long day at work and she was exhausted. She had clients dragging her all over town, making her want to scream. A nice, warm bubble bath sounded like heaven right now. She put her key in the lock and twisted it, frowning when she saw it was already opened. She hesitantly opened the door and walked inside. She sighed when she saw her kids, Brock, and Barbra Jean all sitting in her living room. There goes her bubble bath. "What are ya'll doin here?"

"Well hello to you too sunshine." Bj quipped.

Reba rolled her eyes and set her purse on the coat rack. "Don't you guys all have a home to be at?"

"Yes, but we have big news!" Cheyenne giddily exclaimed.

Reba looked at her oldest daughter and smiled at her excitement. No matter how bad a mood she was in, her kids always seemed to brighten up her day.

Kyra rolled her eyes as her sister squirmed and bounced in her seat. She looked back down at her book, ignoring the commotion going on around her.

"You might wanna sit down. Because it is going to blow your mind." Van drawled out with a proud expression on his face.

Reba chuckled and made her way over to the chair closest to the front door. She unzipped her knee-length, black leather, high heeled boots and set them aside.

"Grandma!" She turned her head to see her two grand children come barreling down the stairs. Elizabeth, who was now nine, got to her first and gave her a big hug.

Reba hugged the young girl tightly. She combed through her long blonde hair and grinned. "How are you sweetie?"

"I'm good, mommy bought me lip gloss today! See!" She rubbed her lips together and leaned closer to Reba's face so she could see the light sparkles spread across them.

Reba laughed, she's just like Cheyenne was..well is. "It looks beautiful darlin'."

Elizabeth smiled proudly, then quickly rolled her eyes when her little brother nudged her away. Reba smiled as her grandson climbed up onto the chair and sat on her lap. "Meemaw!"

"Hi baby." She squeezed him tight and kissed the top of his head. Ethan was four years old and seemed to be getting bigger and bigger each day. "How was your day?"

"Goowd." He slipped his thumb into his mouth and leaned back against her, laying his head on her chest.

Reba wrapped her arms around him and held his hands in hers. She looked back up to her daughter. "So what's the big news?"

"Yeah?" Brock leaned forward on his elbows. "You said it was important everyone be here."

Reba furrowed her eyebrows. "Why do you always have everyone come over here?"

Cheyenne went to speak but Jake cut her off. "How long is this gonna take, I have a party to go to."

Reba frowned at her fifteen year old son. "You said you were goin over to Ryan's house, what's this about a party?"

"I-uh..who said party?" He nervously jittered.

"Jake?" She eyed him sternly.

Cheyenne clenched her jaw annoyed. "Hey!" She shouted over the commotion that had broken out. "Let's shift the attention back to the main focus here, us." She pointed to her and Van.

"Big surprise there." Kyra commented without looking up from her book.

"Shut up Kyra!"

"Alright, honey what's your big news?" Reba intervened before an argument broke out.

"Well." She looked at Van with a big grin. He wrapped his arm around her and they both looked at everyone smiling. "I'm pregnant!" she shouted out.

Kyra looked up from her book startled, Barbra Jean and Reba both squealed. Reba quickly set her grandson to the side and stood up, scurrying over to Cheyenne and pulling her into a hug. "Oh honey!" She rubbed her hand over her daughters flat stomach. "When did you find out?"

"This morning. I'm only five weeks, so it's still touch and go, but we just wanted everyone to know." Cheyenne smiled. Barbra Jean pulled Cheyenne into a bone crushing hug and rocked her back and forth. Reba chuckled as everyone hugged Cheyenne.

She felt a tug at her pant leg and turned around. She smiled down at Ethan. "Yes baby?"

"I want a bwother."

Reba laughed and ruffled his hair. "You might get one buddy, but i bet you'll like having a sister too!" Ethan shrugged and moved away from her, joining in on the group hug. After they finally broke apart, and Barbra Jean stopped squealing, Brock turned to everyone. "How about we all go out for dinner, and celebrate."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Reba rolled her eyes as they began arguing over where to go. She brought her thumb and forefinger to her lips and whistled loudly, quieting everybody in the room. "Why ya'll are deciding on where to eat, I'm gonna head on over to the bank to turn in some client deposits. Just text me the restaurant and i'll meet you there." She began slipping her boots back on.

Cheyenne frowned. "Do ya have to go now ma?"

Reba nodded while putting on her jacket. "Yeah, i have to have these in by tomorrow afternoon, and i won't have time to do it in the mornin, i have an open house." Cheyenne nodded and Reba hugged her. "I'll see you soon."

She headed for the front door and Brock quickly followed her. "I'll walk you out to your car." She looked at him skeptically as he followed her outside. "Soo."

"What?"

"Well, you know how me and BJ's anniversary is comin up?" He waited for her to nod before continuing. "Well it'll be our tenth, and I really want to make it special."

Reba nodded. "And?"

"And that's where you come in. I need help figuring out ideas."

Reba shook her head frantically. "No, no, no. Last time I helped ya'll almost ended up gettin a divorce."

"Reba come on, please!"

She shook her head again while unlocking her car. "This is your marriage, not mine."

"I'm not asking you to do everything! Just help me think of stuff!"

"Brock i am not helpin you. This is your tenth anniversary, you should know what to do by now." She climbed into her car and shut the door.

He leaned into the open window. "Come on, please?"

"Stop whinin, you sound like a baby."

Brock sighed exasperated. "Why are you being such a bitch?"

Reba glared at him. "It is not my job to take care of your marriage. Maybe if you used what little part of your brain you have left, you could figure somethin out." and with that she rolled up the window and took off. Her hands gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles grew white.There were way to many things going on today. First, at her doctor's appointment they told her her blood pressure had gone back to where it was at the begining, which wasn't good. Then she had clients bouncing her from house to house, loads of paper work, and now Brock's crap on top of everything.

She pulled into the bank parking lot and grabbed her purse, muttering to herself as she got out of the car. She made her way into the bank and sighed in relief when she noticed only a small group of people were there. She didn't want to have to wait in line forever. She searched through her purse looking for her clients envelopes. She continued walking, not looking up from her bag, and turned the corner; bumping right into the man in front of her. She looked up startled. "I'm so sorry," she started apologizing as the man turned around. Her breathe caught in her throat.

"Oh my God, Reba."

"Jack." She responded shocked. She hadn't seen him in years. Her heart skipped a beat as he stepped closer and his scent surrounded her. Dang, he still smelled good, and he looked even better, if that were possible.

"How are you?" He managed to slip out. She was the last person he expected to see here, or anywhere. He studied her and felt his knees go weak. She looked amazing.

"I'm, i'm good." She stuttered out. "You?"

"I'm great." He nodded. They went silent and unknowingly stared at each other. "I um-I like your hair like that." He rubbed the back of his neck. "It looks good long."

"Thanks." She mindlessly played with the ends of her hair, which rested halfway down her upper back. "What are you doin here?"

Reba looked at him confused. "What people usually do at a bank. "

"Oh yeah." He looked down at his shoes embarassed.

Reba grinned but quickly let it drop. "How's Sheryl?"

"I wouldn't know." She looked up at him questioningly. He shrugged. "We divorced two years ago. I was staying with family, and just moved back."

"Oh, i'm sorry to hear that."

He shrugged again. "I'm not, she's happier, i'm happier. It's all for the best."

"Well atleast you're happy."

Jack nodded. "Yeah. How are your kids?"

"Oh they're great. Jake's a freshamn now. Kyra's got her music, and Cheyenne's pregnant."

"Really! Congratulations, when'd you find that out?"

"About twenty minutes ago actually."

Jack chuckled. "Wow busy day."

Reba laughed and nodded. "Yeah, it's been somethin."

They smiled at eachother and Jack cocked his head. "Reba, would you-"

"Sir!" Reba and Jack both looked behind him to see the bank teller waiting for him. Reba chuckled as Jack stumbled forward embarassed, unaware they had been holding up the line. She waited behind him as he talked to the teller. Jack snuck glances at Reba and smiled coyly when she caught his eye. She smiled back and his grin grew wider. He turned back when the teller began talking to him. He realized the bank clerk was goin to be a while, so he turned around, smiling at Reba. "Will i see you around anytime soon?"

Reba smiled. "I hope so."

"You know, maybe i should get your number. You know, just so that hopefully turns into a definitely."

Reba blushed and smiled coyly. "Well I mean, if you think it's necessary."

"Oh I definitely think it's necessary." Reba giggled. "So can I get it, or am I gonna have to beg?"

Reba pursed her lips playfully. "You got a pen?"

He patted his pockets repeatedly, looking for one. The bank teller, his name tag read Geoffrey, cleared his throat. They looked over and he handed Reba a pen, winking at her. Reba grinned. "Thanks." She gently grabbed Jack's hand and brought it up closer to her. She glanced up at him then back to his hand, writing her number across the top of it. "I've decided you don't have to beg."

"Good, because that would've been embarassing." They both chuckled. "I'll definitely use this." He added with a grin, lifting his marked hand.

Reba shook her head smiling, turning back to Geoffery, who was grinning as well. She handed him the pen back. "Thank you."

"No problem mamí." He turned back towards Jack. "Which account would you like to disable sir? The one-"

"Call 911!"

Everyone turned around startled to see a younger gentleman rushing into the open area. "There's a man with a gun!"

"What?!" Everyone looked around confused and Reba looked over at Jack. They all jumped when they heard a gunshot. Reba's eyes grew wide and her legs started shaking. They heard heavy footsteps and her heart began pounding. Jack grabbed her arm and pulled her behind the counter, dragging them both down to the floor.

"Everybody get down on the ground!"

Jack peeked around the corner to see a man dressed in black waving a gun around. He turned back, Reba shaking next to him.

"Nobody move, this is a hold up!"


End file.
